One of the most debatable and misunderstood topics in SEO, that which can divide a country and sound the battle horns, is the role that copywriting plays in an SEO campaign. Is it truly necessary to write targeted SEO content? Are on- and off-page SEO copywriting techniques truly effective? Isn’t SEO copywriting just glorified spam? I can already hear swords being drawn...
There are many moving parts in an SEO campaign - from optimized title and meta tags to XML site maps and internal link structure. Most SEO processes may appear difficult at first, but really just demand your time, patience, and commitment. Only you can make it more difficult than it actually needs to be.
Writing for the Web – whether it be a blog, website, landing page, Facebook status update, tweet – should also be search engine optimized. This isn’t a science. It’s a way of thinking. Search engine optimized content ensures that websites will be ranked higher in search results. A higher ranking in the search engines potentially means more visitors on your site. And more web traffic leads to more sales and conversions.
You don’t need a PhD from Copywriting University to figure this out, anyone can do it. But you do need to understand the basics before your site soars to a better ranking. Now don’t get me wrong, optimized content does NOT guarantee you will be #1 on Google, just that you have a much better chance of being ranked on page one. And we all learned from Lloyd Christmas that if there’s a chance...
But there are too many sites right now that violate many SEO copywriting rules, which, if caught, could land that site in Web prison for a very long time. If you run or own a website, you need to understand how to properly search engine optimize copy. If you don’t, you could wake up one morning to your website waving you good-bye from the back of the police paddy wagon bouncing down the cobblestone street to Web prison. Did I say Web prison yet?
Worried that you may accidentally be violating some SEO copywriting rules? Need to become more savvy in your SEO wordsmithing? Join me after the jump for SEO copywriting tips that will keep you and your site out of Web prison.
When SEO is (nonchalantly) mentioned, a few obvious things immediately pop into your mind, such as: Google rankings, link building, conversion rates, and Volacci (OK, I added the last one). While all of these elements are detrimental to your campaign’s success, there is another element that always gets ignored like the smart kid in dumb class: copywriting.
When building an authoritative site, you will want to optimize your copywriting content. It is very effective in getting Google’s attention, but you should also optimize for your human readers as well. I tend to use a ton of metaphors and pop cultural references to draw in the reader’s attention and get them hooked. It is a delicate balance between using the right amount keywords and training the reader to finish your blog post, article, or call to action.
Some writers write first and then optimize later, while other optimize as they go. There are different methods for different writers, whatever works for you. What works fo me, however, are five SEO copywriting tips that have made many of Volacci’s client websites successful. SEO copywriting tips after the jump..
When you write a blog post you want people not only to read it but, ideally, you want them to subscribe to your RSS feed. The more readers the better, right?! However, not everyone is fortunate enough to effortlessly draw a natural stream of loyal readers. It takes a little more than publishing a blog post to stoke the fire of subscribed readership. From my experience there are several ways you can improve your blog's RSS readership that will take your feed from feeble to felicitous:
1. Write Masterful Headlines
Drowned out by all the hoopla over link building, research, title tags, PageRank, modules, and content management love is the one thing that is the foundation for it all: content. Content is king, ruling over the realm of SEO. You link build to articles, made up of key-rich words that form sentences and eventually paragraphs. Title tags require keywords to be indexed up to their potential. I can go on and on with every element of SEO and how content/(key)words are the foundation for success, and trust me, I’ve got time. But I won’t. Here is a better and much more precise explanation.
There is a ruthless rumor fumbling about online that writing content for the purpose of search engine optimization is just a matter of stuffing the page with keywords and phrases with little regard to how compelling the copy actually is. Not only is SEO copywriting about captivating and relevant content, but incorporating the appropriate keywords into the flow of the on-page dialogue is a skill unto itself.
Keywords are very much the ‘buzz’ words of your industry and business. They are the cultural vernacular of thought leaders, industry big wigs, and the under-the-breath curses of underpaid custodial staff. Are you an Austin florist who specializes in blue bonnets? The keyword phrases: “austin florist” and “austin blue bonnets” may be the words you want to focus on.
It still astonishes me every time a top Google result leads me so far from my intended path, that I land on a page with absolutely no relevant content for which I was searching. You want tickets to the Will Taylor’s Strings Attached Rubber Soul show this weekend, but how about a free Wacky Waving Infatable Arm Flailing Tube-Man!?!
